Pulmonary catheters are in general use for suctioning mucus out of the lungs of a patient and for feeding oxygen or other substances into the lungs. Such catheters generally comprise a valve for controlling the flow of oxygen or suction and a tube assembly secured to the valve and operable to be fed into the lungs of a patient. One catheter presently in use is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,005 of the present inventor and entitled DUAL-PURPOSE CATHETER.
When a catheter tube is inserted into a patient, the inserted end becomes coated with mucus which, when the tube is withdrawn, can touch the technician and expose him Co the mucus. If the patient has AIDS or some other communicable disease, the results could be disastrous to the technician.
Suggestions have been made for providing a catheter having means for protecting the user but none is satisfactory for the intended purpose.